HOW TO BE RICK RUBIN

In 1991, the Red Hot Chilly Peppers released their first successful album, Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Unlike their previous albums, this one was really massive.

The interesting thing is that the band was already famous. But only locally. They did great live performances and everyone in LA loved them, but their studio work just sucked.

There is an opinion that this breakthrough wouldn't have happened without one person - Rick Rubin. You have probably never heard of him. Okay, maybe you know him as "the homeless guy in Eminem's Berzerk music video 1".

He is a music producer. He has produced a lot of bands that you might be a fan of like System of a Down, Eminem, Run DMC, Adele, Johny Cash (latest albums), Beasty Boys, Metallica, Jay-Z, The Strokes, Imagine Dragons, etc. But he's no ordinary music producer. He doesn't make music with his own hands (mainly): he's not a beatmaker, he's not a songwriter. But he does something that allows peaces of art to happen.

Here are 3 tips I wrote down for myself to be more like Rick.

There are a lot of smart and talented people around you, give them a chance to prove themselves.

Focus on building a collaborative atmosphere rather than a product (but don't forget to make sure the work gets done).

In many situations, it is better to organize a creative environment and then shut up and go to sleep.

The first RHCP albums sounded different than Blood Sugar Sex Magik. And you probably won't listen to them now, even if you become a fan thanks to new albums. Something is wrong with this music. It sounds too artificial.

It's because their previous producers did what was strictly wrong with the band's songs - they made them too clean. They wanted to make the music radio-friendly. In fact, the songs were too punky for pop listeners and too poppy for punks. The music was a victim of compromise.

Unlike the others, Rick Rubin gave the band the freedom to express their vision. He turned his own home into the studio where they wrote the album. He encouraged experimentation, even if those experiments seemed crazy at first. He was there to help and listen, but he didn't dominate. He allowed the band to fully express themselves, to be the best versions of themselves, and to make art in their own way. And the album became a hit.

Sometimes with other bands, Rick does nothing at all during the production process. He does not get involved if it is not necessary. If everything is going well without his presence, it is better to leave it that way. For example, go to sleep (I'm not kidding, he does that a lot).

Okay, not everyone was happy with this way of working. Corey Tailor of Slipknot was disappointed and confused when Rick Rubin showed up for 45 minutes a week while they were working on their debut album 2.

People can solve their own work problems. They can move on by themselves. Do not interfere.

Every time you solve a problem for them, you get stronger. But your team becomes weaker.

Help them solve situations when they get stuck. You will be more detached and have more space in your mind to come up with something unexpected.

Okaaay, if you have a great idea that costs almost nothing to implement, offer it.

Of course, Rick influences the results. But only a little, in details. But they are remarkable details. For example, the idea to make the intro of Jay-Z's 99 Problems in acapella came from Rick 3. And it became an iconic intro.

There is a story that Rick himself told on a Joe Rogan podcast 4 about writing the song Chop Suey!. At one point, Serge - the lyricist - was stuck. He had no lyrics for a long bridge section at the end of the song. Nothing good came to Serge's mind, so Rick unexpectedly and very elegantly helped him solve the problem. Using the method you cannot come up with if you are focused on production and not open minded enough.

He offered Serge to take any book* from his library shelves, open any page, and read aloud what he saw. It was the line, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit". It is now in a song, and it made the song even cooler.

If you have chosen to work in a team rather than alone, accept the thought that you are not the smartest guy in the room. Even if you are

If you accept the idea of collaboration, invest your patience in it. You need to listen more than you talk.

Then you won't want your idea to win, you'll want the best idea to win.

This is how teams become more than the sum of their parts.

Imagine a jazz jam.

Each member does his or her part to keep the music going, improvising in a way that does not break up the whole thing. Everyone has the ability to add something new if they want to. Everyone has the ability to lead at any moment if they feel like it.

The composition has a foundation, but on top of that, everyone in the team can show themselves in a good moment, when it adds something, but does not create dissonance.

I'm sure many of the activities we do in our jobs could be done in a similar way. But for that to happen, everyone has to put their egos aside, learn to trust each other, and listen. Especially those who usually lead should start doing this.

I should admit that Rick is a contradictory figure in music. I talked about his pros, but those pros could be seen as cons. A lot of people think that Rick is just a lazy guru who has done nothing for the last 20 years and is overpaid and overrated.

Maybe he did nothing and everything would have happened without him. But the results are great and I think it is because of the freedom that Rick has given to the artists.

He is a master at giving other people space to create.

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